1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cutlery and food cutting devices, and, more particularly to a hand cutlery device that can core and slice certain types of fruit in an especially safe manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many fruits come to retail consumers in a form that requires some additional, minimal preparation, other than cooking, before they are totally ready to be eaten. For example, strawberries usually are found in grocery stores in one- or two-pint baskets in which there are some leaves and part of the stem still attached to the berries. Additionally, strawberries, like many other fruits, have a core that is less edible, at least from a taste perspective, than the rest of the berry. Such cores are typically removed when one wishes to present strawberries in a form that the majority of people would probably find most appetizing. Slicing of de-stemmed and cored strawberries can also release the juices of the berries and further add to their appeal; as, for example, in a bowl of sliced strawberries.
A paring knife is probably the most commonly employed cutlery item used to remove the stem and core from a strawberry and to slice it. This method generally works well, but it has disadvantages. For example, it is time consuming and the sharp edge of the paring knife can present a safety hazard to its user.
Several specialized, hand-operated or hand devices have been disclosed for separating the outer meat of the strawberry from its stem and core. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,459 discloses a device including a tubular member attached to a handle. The tubular member is directed through the center of the strawberry until the stem and core are detached from the strawberry. Then the stem and core are pulled out of the tube. Successful operation of the invention depends on the stem not being separated from the core until after the stem has been pulled out of the tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,043 discloses a strawberry stem/core remover including a tubular member mounted on a handle. The strawberry is pushed down over the free end of the tube which cuts through the strawberry and separates the core from the outer meat of the berry. The core being removed from a subsequent strawberry forces the core from a preceding berry through the tube toward an exit end of the core so that, when a sufficient number of berries have been cored, the cores from subsequent berries are forced out of the exit end of the core. Both of these specialized, hand devices cannot be used to slice a strawberry, so a paring or other knife would still have to be used for this task.
To make the task of removing the stem & core and then slicing strawberries less time consuming and safer, further improvements are needed in the cutlery devices now available for these tasks.